Gas turbine



Sept 22,, 1942.

L. F. G. BUTLER 5 Sheets-Sheet '1 S L\ m v ,mv 4 m H y 1% I Q FEM w =2 7L .{J

. 4 ariwuwuvvuvl wuu-ual Sept. 22, 1942. F. a. BUTLER GAS TURBINE Original Filed Feb. 20, 1940 E ZT g w n is's Sept. 22, 1942. F. G. BUTLER GAS TURBINE Original Filed Feb; 20, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 22, 1942. L. F. s. BUTLER GA S TURBINE Original Filed Feb. 20, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 z w aw: -l. E t

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c-As TURBINE Original Filed Feb. 20, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 w r 2 kw y u a .Ww 4 u m 1 $1 a m l @w w hm SN q %w v 5% mN w g a QQN g N Q gm s? w 4 g EA 3 Wm QNN N u u 3 v @w n. u g 5 @w 3 fin mmw .fl N\\WMW: @w I 5H: i H- NM 3, wvwv MM? i. L H WWW xv gxifi 3 3 a x 3 Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAS TURBINE Leonard Frederick George Butler,-Ernest Briggs, and Edward Bowness,.'Bristol, England, assignors to The Bristol Aeroplane Company Limited, 1

1 Bristol, England, a British company Original her 23, 1941, Serial No. Britain January 21, 1939 application February 20, 1940, Serial No.

Divided and this application Septem- 412,037. In Great 3 Claims. (Cl. 18-1-6) This application corresponds to the application of The Bristol Aeroplane Company Limited, Leonard Frederick George Butler, Ernest Briggs and Edward Bownes, Serial No. 11,453/40, which was filed in Great Britain on July 9, 1940, and

dated January 21, 1939 (United States Serial No. 412,036, filed September 23, 1941),

This application is a divisional of our co-pending United States application Serial No. 319,950, filed February 20, 1940, for improvements in Gas turbines.

This invention is concerned with superchargers for internal-combustion engines and has for its object to provide an improved construction and arrangement of lubricating means therefor. It may be applied to any supercharger and may, for example, be applied to one which is driven by a'turbine actuated by the exhaust gases from the engine.

According to this invention there is-provided for an internal-combustion engine, the combination of a turbine driven by the exhaust gases of shaft and the pump or pumps are driven throughv a speed-reducing gear from the said shaft.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the shaft aforesaid is carried in two bearings one adjacent 'the blower and one adjacent the turbine-rotor, and two pumps are provided each supplying lubricant respectively to oneof these bearings.

According to yet another feature of this invention, the said shaft is disposed with its axis substantially vertical with the turbine-rotor at the lower end thereof, and the shaft is engaged near its upper end by a bearing around and above which a cup-shaped chamber is formed into which a metered flow of lubricant is delivered by When the blower is driven by the 'exwherein the two lubricating pumps are each ofthe reciprocating type, the plungers being driven through reduction gearing from the said shaft, and preferably the plu'ngers of the pumps are both driven by a swash-plate or face-cam carried by ashaft which is driven through epicyclic g'aring which is driven by a shaft disposed-at right-angles. to the turbine shaft and driven through worm gearing therefrrm.

According to yet another feature of this invention, an anti-friction bearing for the turbine shaft in close proximity to the turbine-rotor is provided with a chamber between it and the inner race of the bearing and one of the lubricating pumps provides a flow of lubricant, through 4 said chamber to cool it.

In the accompanying drawings which'illustrate one embodiment of this invention,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the complete supercharging unit, being .a section on the line 1-1 of Figure 2,

Figure 2 is an under-plan view of Figure 1, J Figure 3 is a partial view similar to Figure 2 but drawn to anenlarged scale, being a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 4,

Figure 4 is a part-sectional elevation similar to Figure 1, being mainly a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation to the same scale as Figure showing the detail construction of the lubricating pumps.

Like reference characters indicate "like parts throughout the drawings.

The general arrangement of the supercharger unit is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The impeller l0 of a centrifugal blower of known or usual construction is mounted by itssplines H, and by other means described below, on a shaft 12 which one of said pumps. Preferably the cup-shaped chamber aforesaid is formed by the outer wall rotates in an upper bearing 13 (see Figure 5) in a housing IM and a bottom bearing I4 (see I Figure 4). The upper bearing I3 is supported in the wall ii of the chamber through which air, or a mixture of fuel and air, is admitted to the eye l6 of the impeller. The air enters the chamber by an inlet ll (Figure 2) and is discharged by the impeller 10 through the usual fixed difiuser vanes l8 into a volute chamber i9 from which it is delivered by the outlet 20 to the induction system of the internal-combustion engine to which this supercharger. unit is applied. The compressed air may be discharged directly to the induction system of the engine, o'r,to a carburetor from which the mixture of fuel and air is delivered to a second-stage blower which delivers the compressed mixture to the induction system of the engine. The compressor herein described is therefore preferably a firststage compressor in a two-stage system, but the invention is not limited to this arrangement.

The lower end of the shaft I2 is formed integrally with a turbine-rotor 2| having blades 22 alternatively may simply be discharged into the external airstream flowing along the underside of an aircraft fuselage or wing when this unit is used with an aero engine.

The detailed construction and arrangement of the mounting for the bearing I4 is described in our British patent application No. 2,136/39 (United States Serial No. 319,950, filed February 20, 1940) and for the purposes of the present invention it is only necessary to point out that the shaft 52 is provided near the bearing with a recess or groove 25 bounded at its upper end by a narrow flange 21 on the shaft and at its lower end by an unreduced portion 28 of the shaft. This groove 26 is surrounded by a thin steel sleeve 28, the bottom end of which is thickened at 38 and provided with an upstanding portion 3| to engage the lower side of the inner race 82 of the ball bearing I4. The upper face of this race is'engaged by the tubular part 38 of a sleeve 34 surrounding the shaft and provided with an oil seal 35. The shaft I2 is bored from its upper end at 86 and providedwith a-transverse opening 81 whereby the bore 88 communicates with the space, 26 between the bearing and the shaft.

The outer race 40 ofthe bearing I4 is supported by a waved springy washer 52 from a plate 48 which has a central aperture around the sleeve 28.

Ace'ntrifugal fan having a hub 58 and blades 54 mountedon the part28 of the shaft I2 adjacent the rotor 2I of the turbine; this fan is used, as described in our British patent application No. 2,136/39 for inducing the flow of air around the bearing to cool it, but it also serves to discharge oil which, according 'to this invention, assists in cooling the bearing I4, the discharge taking the member 81, and at the top by a washer I88 held in place by a nut I81 screw-threaded on to the shaft I2.

Near its upper. end the shaft I 2 carries a worm I88 whereby a drive is imparted as hereinafter described to the lubricating pumps for this supercharger unit.

The parts so far described of this supercharger unit are assembled in the following manner. The bearing I4 is assembled in its casing on the underside oi the wall of the blower, and the sleeve 84 is also inserted in place. The fan hub 88 and the sleeve 28, 88 are slid on to the shaft I2 from its upper end and the shaft is then introduced through the bearing until it occupies the position shown in the drawings. shaped plate 86 is next threaded on to the shaft,

then the impeller I8 and then the cone shaped plate 91.

The casing IN is next placed in position with the upper part of the blower casing and the bearing is clamped in place by the washer place radially into the exhaust gases passing and passes out' through the radial passage 81 to the groove 28 and thence through a port 88 in the sleeve 28 into a space 88 adjacent the inner race 82 of the bearing I4. From the space 88 the oil passes through one or more ports 88 in the sleeve 88 into the space 8I immediately above the bearing so that it can then pass downwards through the bearing and out from the central hole in the plate 48, finally being expelled by the centrifugal fan 84 as above described. This flow of oil in addition to lubricating the bearing plays an important part in cooling it, and is preferably used in conjunction with the air cooling described in British patent application No. 2,136/39. i

The impeller I8 of the compressor. as stated above, is mounted on the shaft l2 by splines II and it is further provided with a cone-shaped plate 88 (see Figure l) on its underside and a similar oppositely directed cone-shaped plate 81 on its upper side (see also Figure 5). This plate I88 and nut I81, and then the plate I84 is secured to the wall I5 of the blower. When the nut I81 is tightened up the inner race III], the sleeve 88 and plate 81, the impeller hub and the plate 86 are all clamped between the nut I81 and the turbine-rotor disc 2I. Y

The oil pumps for the lubrication of the bearings and cooling of the lower. turbine bearing I4 are mounted in a conical closure plate III secured on top of the blower casing as shown in Figure 1. This plate III is formed at one side with a tubular enlargement H2 and at the'otherside with an enlargement H8 in which the pumps are accommodated. The enlargement H8 is en-, gaged internally by a sleeve II4 of which the outer end is flanged at 8, the flange being affixed to the plate III by suitable bolts (not shown). Between the sleeve H4 and the surrounding wall of the pm II8 an annular space recesses H8, 128 to accommodate pistons I2I,

I22, respectively. The cylinder land the surrounding sleeve II'4 are cut with a conduit I28 to form an inlet port from the groove II8 to the interior of the cylinder. This port is controlled by the piston I2I in a manner described below. The delivery port I24 of the cylinder H8 is controlled by a spring-pressed ball-valve I28 of which the valve-chest communicates through a port I28 and a conduit I21 in the sleeve H4 and easing II8 with a conduit I28 in the casing. This conduit leads to a groove I28 in a plug I88 which closes the top of the conical casing III and with which a stem I8I is integrally formed an" leads down into the interior of the shaft I2. Radial ports I82 connect the groove I28 with the bore I88 of the stem. Thus the delivery of the The conewhich is connected by a conduit I34 to a central by centrifugal force from the bottom edge of space I35 in the cylinder block IIO, From this space the oil is delivered along the interior of a shaft I36 which is cross-pinned to the shaft I31 with which, the worm-whee1 I09 is integrally formed. The shaft I31 where it enters the sleeve I38 which lines the enlargement H2 is formed with a groove I39 which is connected by a port I40 with the interior of theright-hand end of the shaft. At its left-hand end the shaft I31 is cross-pinned to a shaft I4I having a non-circular portion I42 for engagement with the end of a flexible shaft from which a tachometer is driven to indicate the rate of revolution of the turbocomp'ressor shaft. Oil from the space.l39 lubricates the bearing between an enlarged portion I43 of the shaft I31 and the surrounding sleeve I38'and, having passed beyond this portion, es-

capes through a conduit I44 in the casing III into the cup-shaped chamber I45 formed by the central portion of the compressor casing I5.

The shaft I31 is formed with an eccentric por-- tion I46 which constitutes an axle for'a compound, planetary pinion comprising gears I41 and I48. The gear I41 meshes with afixed internal the cone-shaped plate 91. At thispolnt the oil enters the stream of air flowing into the eye It of the impeller.

The cooling of the bearing I4 by the circulation of lubricating oil'is preferably additional to the air cooling described in British patent application No. 2,136/39 and to the construction whereby the bearing is insulated from heat as described in British patent application No.

' 11,452/40, so that the complete system ensures gear I49 cut on the inside wall of the sleeve II4.

The gear I48 meshes with an internal gear I50 cut on a cup-shaped member I5P carried by a short shaft I52. v g'rally with a face cam I53 which engages simultaneously with notches in the pistons I2I, I22

whereby, upon rotation of the cam, the pistons are reciprocated in their cylinders. The shaft I52 is borne in the central recess I in the cylinder block and the shaft I36 is'borne at its right-hand end in the shaft I52 and at its lefthand end in a bush I54 in the inner end of the sleeve 4. p

As the piston I2I, for example, is moved to the left as seen in Figure 5 the ball I25 closes The shaft.I52 is formedinte-- that the oil is not disintegrated by excessive heat but merely assists in the cooling of the bearing.

It will be seen that this invention provides a complete supercharger unit in which the arrangement whereby the lubricating oil pumps are driven by the turbine shaft ensures that a metered supply of oil is given to the bearing at a rate dependent upon their requirements and ii dependently of the general lubricating system of the. engine wherewith this supercharger is used. We claim: I

1. A turbo=compressor for a super-charged in- I ternal-combustion engine, comprising a turbine rotor and a supercharging impeller mounted on the same shaft, epicyclic gearing driven by said shaft, a swash-plate or face cam driven by said I epicyclic gearing and pumps driven by said swash-plate or face cam to supply lubricant to the shaft bearings. 2; In combination, a turbine, a turbine shaft I extending up from said turbine substantially vertically, a compressor in'driven connection with said shaft spaced above the turbine, .a lower and a vacuum is produced in the cylinder IIS until the port I23 is uncovered. Thereupon oil from the space H6 flows into the cylinder and on the succeeding stroke to the right this oil is supplied through the delivery port I24 in the manner already explained. The pump I22 operates in the same manner.

It will be understood that the shaft I2 rotates at a high speed and the gearing I08, I00 and the .epicyclicgearing I40, I41, I40, I49, I50 ensures that the pump-plungers I2I, I22 are driven at a suitablyreduced speed.

The'oil which enters the space I through the port I44 flows downwardly through the bear.- ing I! and lubricates the balls, escapes slowly bearingfor said shaft between the turbine and compressor, an upper bearing for the shaft above the compressor, lubricant pumps above said up- I per bearing in communication with a source of lubricant supply, gearing driven by 'said shaft,

cam means driven by said gearing and driving said pumps, means between one pump and said 'upper bearing for the delivery of lubricant from said pump to said upper bearing, means establishing communication between the'other lubricantpump and said lower bearing. 3. A turbo-compressor for a super-charged internal combustion engine comprising a turbine rotor and a super-charging impeller mounted onthrough the packing 00, I00, and is discharged the same" shaft, gearing driven by said shaft, a cam driven by said gearing, and pump means driven by said cam to supply lubricant to the shaft bearings.

LEONARD FREDERICK GEORGE BUTLER. ERNEST BRIGGS. EDWARD BOWNESS 

